Lee Garrison calls for $175 million overhaul of city schools during inauguration speech

Monday

Nov 4, 2013 at 1:00 PMNov 4, 2013 at 1:10 PM

Lee Garrison, the newly sworn-in chairman of the city board of education, on Monday called for a $175 million overhaul of Tuscaloosa city schools.

By Jason MortonStaff Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

Lee Garrison, the newly sworn-in chairman of the city board of education, on Monday called for a $175 million overhaul of Tuscaloosa city schools.Garrison was one of 16 members of the City Council and board of education to be sworn into office Monday in the first joint council-school board inauguration ceremony in 12 years.Alabama Public Radio’s Bob Woodman, who served as the master of ceremonies, mentioned the historical nature of the inauguration as he wished for those being sworn in to be “strong in mind and body” while displaying “stellar leadership.” Garrison, who relinquished the District 4 City Council seat he had held since 1997 to run for the school board chairman, unveiled aspects of a $175 million plan to improve the school system during his inauguration speech at the Tuscaloosa Career & Technology Academy on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.“Today we bring hope and optimism to this place and to our city and its school system,” Garrison said. “We also bring a vision for the future.”Garrison said he wants to:Provide universal pre-K classes.Upgrade city school buses and all elementary, middle and high schools.Improve athletic facilities so middle school teams can host home games.Overhaul technology so students can access it at school and at home.Garrison said he intends to complete his plan for presentation to the Board of Education during its scheduled meeting on May 6, 2014.It will require an estimated $175 million to fund the extensive capital plan and universal pre-K program, he said. Some of the money, Garrison said, will come from a 6-mill ad valorem tax for education that is set to expire in November 2015 unless voters renew it.“We will pay for this plan by earning the confidence of all our citizens so that when November 2015 rolls around, they will fully buy into the vision and vote to renew the property tax that they have already been paying for the last 30 years,” he said. “Again, this is a tax renewal — not a tax increase.”He also is asking the County Commission to lift the continual six-year expiration date on a countywide 1-cent sales tax that funds education.It was last renewed for six years in 2009, but Garrison is asking that the tax become permanent.Currently, 85 percent of the tax must go to capital improvement or construction, projects, while 15 percent can be used for classroom operations.Garrison, however, wants county leaders to lift the 15 percent cap for operations.“(The sales tax) has been renewed several times since it was first enacted in 2001, so why not make it permanent?” he said. “Our economy has built this penny in over the last decade, and, in my opinion, has not slowed our economic progress. “Removing the 15 percent cap will allow our system to fully fund universal pre-K and provide teachers with better pay and more resources for their classrooms.”Mayor Walt Maddox said he wants to find out more about Garrison’s proposal.“I’m ready to learn about (Garrison’s ideas) because they are bold,” Maddox said in an interview after the inauguration ceremony. “There’s nothing wrong about putting big ideas on the table.“Big ideas are something I’m glad to see, and I look forward to learning more about them and working with the school board to make them happen.”Also speaking at the ceremony were Maddox, City Council President Harrison Taylor and city schools Superintendent Paul McKendrick.McKendrick was the only non-elected official at the podium, a point that he used to illustrate the joint focus of the City Council and the school board on educating the city’s children.“I hope that my presence confirms the importance that our city places on education,” McKendrick said.The location of the event — the $25 million, 120,000-square-foot Tuscaloosa Career & Technology Academy that officially opened in August — also was evidence of the city’s commitment to improving learning opportunities for the entire city.“This building is more than a school,” McKendrick said, “but the school board and the community’s commitment to improving the lives of families and the economic development of the city.”The importance of the facility was also highlighted by Maddox, who said it was a tangible symbol of the promises he made when he first became mayor in 2005.“Eight years ago, we pledged that reversing decades of neglect in West Tuscaloosa would be a deeply held core belief,” Maddox said. “From providing tens of millions of dollars to upgrade our infrastructure, to cleaning up blighted property, to investing millions into Mc-Kenzie Courts, the West Police Precinct and Rosedale, we have fulfilled our commitment, but we are not done.“This time-honored ceremony, being celebrated here in West Tuscaloosa, only serves as further motivation that we must continue to ensure that our entire city succeeds.”And Taylor, whose district borders the Tuscaloosa Career & Technology Academy, said he was proud to see the new facility operating in an area that he said was ignored for far too long in the past.“I am overjoyed at the accomplishments we have made in West Tuscaloosa and throughout the city ... but there are still strides to be made,” he said. “I believe there’s more power in the people than people in the power.“If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go with us.”